


Team 7 Maverick Hunter of Konoha

by MapQuest1287



Category: Naruto, Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman Zero | Mega Man Zero
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:28:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23805346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MapQuest1287/pseuds/MapQuest1287
Summary: People often ask where is it that we go to when we are dead, is there an afterlife, or do we just move on to another life?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own either Naruto or the Megaman Franchise.

“Blah Blah Blah…” Regular Speech.

‘ _Blah Blah Blah…_ ’ Though.

“ ** **Blah Blah Blah…**** ” Summon/Omnipotent/… Being Speech.

“Blah Blah Blah…” Jutsu/Spell/Special Move/… Name.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He was dying.

It was plain and simple. The moment he had decided to stay back on the falling space station Ragnarok to finished off Weil and destroy the space station once and for all, Zero Omega Wily knew that he was going to die. His only solace now was that he could rest for a long while after 300 years of killing, after ensuring that the threat Weil represent for the New Earth has been put down permanently.

He could feel the space station around him crumble, collapse, explode and burning up from the re-entrance to the atmosphere. The artificial sense on his body are shutting down one by one. His repairing system are trying to repair some of the major damage, but it was impossible, the damage was too great, he already knew his life was escaping him, and ‘death’ was about to come to him once again.

The Red Demon began to chuckle lightly. For 300 years, he had dedicated his life to destroying everything and anything that threaten the people he cared about and believe in. Ever since his battle against Omega, the Devil Reploid, had ended, he had been getting flash of his life before he was awoken by Ciel, and only now, when he was on the verge of dying, does his corrupted memory got fully restored.

For 300 years, the number of people in his ‘family’ by circumstances has come and go, and yet only he was still here. 300 years of his life, living with the moniker of ‘God of Destruction’, he had had two ‘death’, and now the third time. He wonder if this time it would stick, “third time the charm" and what not. He would laugh if it was even possible at this point.

He could feel his vision fading, his artificial limbs nervous system losing even the numbness they once felt. Now all he felt was his awareness slowly disappearing. He was about to die, again.

'X, Axl,…Iris,…Ciel. ', he thought, picturing them in his mind, the people who had come into his life, the two people who was his brother in arm, the ones who had been his first love, who he most regret killing, and finally the second love of his life, who had pull him out of despair and given him a purpose again.

.

'I'm sorry...Ciel, I…now…entrust…this world…to you. I’m… sorry that… I… can’t… make it… back…', he thought his last thought, darkness gradually taking over his vision. Just as everything else flash white in an explosion, he decided to finally close his eyes, a small smile replacing his usual stoic demeanor. It was then that Zero Omega Wily, The Red Demon and God of Destruction, had enter the embrace of death.


	2. Reincarnation

Zero did not think much of the afterlife when he was alive.

Truthfully he was only interested in the subject because of his first ‘death’.

He find out what was going on after the second time he ‘die’.

It was due to the Zero Virus presence in Cyberspace.

Technically speaking, he is the Zero Virus and most of the time, the Zero that interact with the world was an avatar, molded by ‘him’ to act out in the world.

From what he could access in his network once he became aware of it, each time an avatar of his got destroy, the data it has collected in it’s lifetime got sent to the network where a new body is build on the collected data and if it was necessary, given upgrade so that it would be harder to destroy next time, and then the avatar was send back to the material world.

The time between his ‘death’ can be vary, depending on the ambient energy level of the world, and considering the current state of the world, he hope that he can have a rest for a long time. Or may be not, considering that Ciel has her C.I.E.L system.

However, something was different this time.

Zero found himself surrounded by darkness as usual, yes, but now there was no red from the Zero Virus Network anywhere, so this was not something that he expected.

It was like he was in some form of cocoon, a barrier of warmth that wrapped around him protectively. He found it almost impossible to move his body and, speaking of his body, it felt off, dis-proportioned and more importantly incredibly weak, fragile somehow.

_Where am I?_

He took a moment to relax his mind and concentrate, to listen. He could feel and hear heartbeat. It take a while to detect that these thing are coming from within himself. It was confusing to say the least, for a creature of metal and plastic like him to have a heart all of a sudden.

_What happen to me?_

_How did I survive?_

Question like that were flooding his mind, but one made him pause.

_Is my body flesh and blood now?_

Putting that issue aside he continued to concentrate, listening past his own heartbeat. After a moment he began to hear another, one separate from his own. This was odd, especially because the heartbeat sounded like it came from all around him. Not bothering with trying to solve this mystery quite yet, he decided to try to sense what his surroundings is.

As soon as he attempted this he had felt a few new source of power around him.

_This energy feel like the energy which was generated by a Reploid’s core, but also not._

From what he could sense, one source was powerful and very concentrated. If he had to compare it to anything he would have compare it to lightning and hurricane.

There was another source, even larger in quantity, and even denser, also very fierce, but somehow not very concentrated like the first. This power source was all around him. If he had to describe it, he would say it was large, gentle and also somehow felt like sea and whirlpool. It also surrounded him completely as if he were inside its owner.

Now, Zero was not by any mean stupid. He may enjoy battle more then other of his kind, but he did sometime digs into human culture to entertain himself, (and after X had nagged at him until he felt like tearing his hair out, but he would never admit to that).

He had read into some of the concept in several rare copies on books about Buddhism, at least when the world still has book, and from what he had read, he now had a rough idea of what had happened to him and where he currently was. Although he never would have expected this.

_I’ve been reincarnated in to a human body and now I’m an infant, or maybe a fetus…_

This revelation was one of both shock and bewilderment. 

_First that I decided to sacrifice myself on that space station and now I'm rewarded by becoming a fetus?_

If he still could, his mind would have rebooted itself several time by now.

But there was one more mystery to solve, one more power source that his sense could find. Its nature and location confused him, however. It was unlike anything he had ever encountered; powerful, overwhelmingly powerful, and evil, full of hatred, sickeningly so if he has to put it to word, like Sigma was, only a thousand time more. It felt like it was right next to him, yet, at the same time, locked away in a place he could never reach.

Now that he felt it for the first time, it’s presence was just there. Whatever it was, he could feel it, just behind that incomprehensible barrier. And now that he could feel it, now that he could sense its rage, he knew that it was watching him, that it knew he was watching it, and it did not like being watched.

_This required further study._ This was what his mind decided on.


	3. Contemplation...

Life within the womb as a self-aware fetus as Zero had learned, was very boring, disorienting and maddening. There was little to do while trapped here and time seemed almost non-existent. He try to scream more than once, to relieve a fit of insanity, but no sound was heard. However, he knew that time was passing, as his body had continued to grow, and soon he would be free.

The thoughts of freedom brought other thoughts as well. Where and when would he be in his new life. Would he find himself flung into the far future? Would he still have the opportunity to meet Ciel again?

These thoughts had plagued Zero for most of his time in his 'new home'. There was also what he had began to call The Entity that lived with him in his Mother. He would continue to ‘watch’ and observe it and found something interesting. The Entity was releasing some form of energy into his mother's body, and as a likely unintended side effect, this energy was flowing into him as well.

When he felt it entering his body, it seemed wild, almost primal, with that same feeling of maliciousness that The Entity exuded, if somewhat watered down. As far as he could tell it was not harmful and he had no way of stopping it either. He continued to examine this energy as time went on and discovered that his mother power was also similar to it. Unlike The Entity's, hers was warmer, calmer almost and somewhat soothing if he had to describe it.

What was really interesting was how they interacted. With the help of his sense, he found that his mother's 'energy' seemed to be almost shackling the others, controlling and mitigating it. After discovering this, he looked 'into himself' so-to-speak and discovered that he contained his own 'energy' as well, separate from the ones supplied to him by The Entity and his mother. Not that he could really do anything with it though. He mostly spent his time examining these various energies, trying to kill his boredom.

As time passed he began to feel it. His body had been growing and his 'prison' was growing smaller and smaller. His limbs were now capable of small movements and he knew now that it wouldn't be long before his rebirth.

Also while in this near timeless place he had time to think, and he found it really refreshing that he could think his own thought now, without all those influence when he was still the Zero Virus from his long dead creator.

Before, he had to relied on the people surrounding him to help him think of other things beside ways to kill and destroy everything that surround him, due to no small part of his crazy creator when he was designing his mind.

Also speaking of his mind, he ‘frowned’ as he also contemplated his body from Before. Before, he was always stronger than the rest of his ‘family’, but if anyone ask “How?” he would have said that it was just how he was designed, not because of any considerable effort in ‘training’ his ‘body’.

Zero, after coming out of his stasis pod, had been stronger than most around him, and his strength only seem to grow when he was in combat situation. He did ‘trained’ his body and practiced his techniques when he was in the Headquarter training facility, but most of the time his true ‘training’ was when he was out on the field hunting and killing any Maverick in his way, and after every battle, with every kill, his power would get stronger, and as a side ‘benefit’ he can go out and kill more. It does wear on his being though, the killing and the lack of empathy to the dead after a while, has become dull.

In this new life, there would be a new Zero. Even if he was not the old war machine anymore, in his core he knew that he’ll always be a killer, a ‘God of Destruction’, but may be this time, he could tone down on the killing, and get strong simply by training his body and mind.

The cage around him had suddenly tightened around him, the liquidrapidly draining away.

_It’s time._

A brand new Zero Omega Wily would emerge in this New World.


	4. …and welcome to the world

_I hate this!_

He hated this. This entire process was uncomfortable, humiliating and (he would never admitted this) a little bit scary.

Zero was completely helpless as his 9-month ‘prison’ tightened and squeezed him, pushing him further to his 'exit'. He didn't know long this torture lasted but eventually he could finally see it; _light_. Just a moment later a wave of frigid air assaulted him, but he didn't care, he was free!

The light and chilly air disoriented him for a moment but eventually he felt himself wrapped in what was presumably a blanket. He opened his eyes but could only make out the outlines of shapes and various colors. There was no definition and the world was a blurry mess. He felt himself being carried and eventually placed in front of who he assumed to be his mother.

He strained his senses, trying to make out anything familiar around him. His ears could hear what sounded like speech, but it sounded almost garbled, he just couldn't make out the words. His eyesight was also still limited, he looked up to view his mother’s face but could barely make anything out except the distinct color of red.

_I really hoped that is just her hair._

It would be rather… saddening to lose his first mother so quickly. A moment later he was carried a bit further away from his mother.

Suddenly, he heard what he easily recognizes as a scream come from the nurse currently carrying him, another pair of arms quickly grabbing him as the nurse fell.

Startled, he saw what look to be a hand, raised threateningly above him through his blurry vision.

He tried to see who it belonged to but couldn't. He could hear his new retainer speaking to someone, his mother or father perhaps when they suddenly flung him into the air. The world swayed around him as he was disoriented, then he felt someone catch him.

He stretch his sense out, attempting to identify the feeling of his attacker power, but something very familiar happened just before he did, the feeling of being teleport. The various colors around him changed in an instant, and he could now feel a slight breeze where before the air was still.

His sense could now only sense the person carrying him, who he had recognized as his father during his time in his mother's womb, with no trace of his attacker.

Then the ordeal of the past few minutes had quickly drained his stamina and he could feel sleep already approaching his small body. Once again, his surroundings had suddenly changed, and he could feel his father place him down onto a soft surface, a bed. He tried desperately to stay awake and was successful for a few minutes, until sleep eventually claim him.

Soon he was woke up again when he felt someone else, someone much larger than him, being placed in his bed, the distinct color of red returning. His mother, laid next to him, cradling him in her arms and a moment later sleep took him again.

He awoke again, his eyes revealing a still blurry world, but it was clearer than before. He was laying in some sort of crib and there were two others standing over him. He looked at them, seeing that distinct color of red, his mother, and a brilliant gold, most likely his father.

There was something else, _It, The Entity_ ; he could feel it just behind his parents, looking past them, he saw a mountain of reddish orange, in a form he wasn't able to make out. It was filled with a hate he was now very familiar with.

It was then that he noticed it, a nail, or more accurately a single claw piercing through both his parent's bodies, inching closer and closer to him.

He could hear his parents speaking but his ears refused to translate the cacophony of noise aside from The Entity's roars of anger. Then, suddenly, he felt a burning sensation in his stomach, and energy being poured into him that he easily recognized to belong to the monster that had just killed his parents. Its power flowed into him and when it stopped his eyes began to close and he welcomed some much-needed rest.


	5. Scouting the world

(Time Skip)

It had been quite some time since the date of his birth. In that time, he was able to learn his new name: Naruto Uzumaki. It wasn’t as strange as Zero Omega Wily, and it was the name his parents choose for him, so he would answer to it. He found himself now being raised in an orphanage, having never seen his parents after his first day in this new world. He was still under the age of 1 years old or, so he thought. Time was still quite hard to keep track of but at least now he knew when it was night or day time, and from what he could estimated he was at around six months old now.

His sight and hearing were now significantly better, and he was capable of standing on his own if he had something to lean on. He was able to crawl as well when his caregivers gave him the opportunity. Speaking of his 'caregivers' he found them quite…odd.

There were 3 different women working at the orphanage. They took care of him as well as any other child but with a strange sense of detachment, like it was just a job to be done.

Now, while that is technically true they only had this quirk when it came to him, the other children they treated as if they were their own. The looks they gave him were reminiscent of a different past he was never able to forget.

Despite these issues Zero, or rather Naruto now, quickly began a routine to further himself as quickly as he could. He would crawl and perform small exercises to help develop his body and practiced talking when no one was around. It wouldn't do to have adults hear a 6-month-old speaking words it shouldn't yet know.

He was able to use what he dubbed his Energy Sense much more efficiently now as well.

In addition to sensing other people Energy, he can also sense the Energy in everything around him, in the air, stone, wood, light…. From what he could sense, the Energy in the people and animal are much more diluted than the Energy in the environment.

Furthermore, he had continued to investigate the energy that he discovered early on in his new life. He could feel The Entity's Energy still, but it seemed almost muted, trickling into him from somewhere he couldn't identify. The beast itself seemed to be almost asleep, no longer aware and watching him as it did when he first arrived in this new world.

_It’s Energy and the environment Energy seem to be equal in density when It and me was still inside of Mother, but somehow It’s energy now is not as dense, maybe about half of It’s quality from before. Granted, it’s still quite dense._

His mind note this information down for a brief second. He would have to revisited this in the future.

His own energy, separate from the beasts, was now much 'larger' than before, and it was growing at a rapid rate, due to the fact that The Entity's Energy is trickling into him from wherever it was, and his body passively absorbing the ambient Energy in the environment, somehow. All those foreign energy that was not his is being diverted and store in a lot of ‘pocket’ spread around his body.

_If I had to describe my Energy, I would say that it’s produced from somewhere under my navel, and the Energy flowed through out my body in a network that reach every corner of my body. Inside this network is hundreds of ‘pocket’ that store my normal Energy, The Entity’s Energy, Nature Energy, and ’pocket’ that had two or all three type of Energy mix. These ‘pocket’ draw in and store Energy, but they also release them back into my network, making my Energy reserve larger._

Speaking of the energy flow, if he concentrated on it, he could control it to some degree, moving it around through the bizarre network in his body, but he didn't know what it was or what it could do. He continued to practice controlling it regardless, for it hadn’t done any harm to him, and trying to figure out its purpose make it more bearable for his continue boredom in this orphanage.

Looking around, Zero/Naruto found that the room he was in, a rather large nursery with other cribs and infants, was currently missing the usual caretaker, with the other children currently asleep or doing whatever it is that infant do to entertain themselves. He used this opportunity to sit his small and still pudgy body up. He stood on wobbly legs and, using the sides of the crib as support, practiced walking around the edge of the crib. Using his Sense, he made sure to watch out for anyone approaching the room.

He had been practicing for a few minutes, when he suddenly felt two large Energy source in the other room approaching the nursery. As quickly as he was able to, he laid down and stared at the ceiling, making small movements and sounds to give the impression the he was just a normal six-month old baby.

The door opened a moment later and the two powerful Energy source walked into the room. With his ears now in much better 'condition' he was able to make out what they were saying.

"Which one is he?" A voice, deep and slightly rough, asked its counterpart.

"He's just over there, in the corner of the room." Another voice replied to the first. This one sounding older, belonging to a person who would sound like a Reploid with a damage voice box, or a human who smoke heavily.

_The second voice also had a familiar tone._ Zero/Naruto

The two strangers walked to the right side of his crib, looking over him allowing Zero/Naruto to see who has interrupted his training session. The man on the right had bright white hair, it was long, tied in a ponytail behind him with two large bangs framing his face. He had a strange headband on with the kanji for "Oil" upon. His face looked somewhat young with but a small wart on his nose, but his white hair made it hard to judge his age.

The other was considerably shorter than the white-haired man, and older as well, with gaunt skin and liver spots dotting his face. He was wearing white robes and strange diamond shaped hat.

The two looked down upon him until the older person finally spoke up.

(Hiruzen POV)

"So Jiraiya, care to explain why it took you six months to respond to my summons?"

This had not been a good six month for him, and while his face would be seemingly calm on the outside, Hiruzen was very irritated with his student.

_You better have a good explanation for this Jiraiya._

Jiraiya hesitated for a moment, likely because he can read the expression and thought on his teacher face, then he responded with a face that look like it had been carve out of marble.

"When I got news that Minato and Kushina were dead, I immediately set my spy network to ensure that no news was spread about their child."

He survey his student face for a moment, to ascertain if that was the truth and not that Jiraiya was just goofing around in a mix hot spring somewhere.

After he was done, satisfy that his student was taking this seriously, he spoke again. "And it took you six months to accomplish this? Without any contact with your home that had just lost their Fourth Hokage? The home that Minato has sacrifice his live to save?".

At the mention of his beloved student, Minato the Fourth Hokage, Jiraiya flinched.

He was silent for a moment, his eyes taking on a hint of sadness. His reply was quiet, with a tone of defeat, "Yeah…".

They just stood there for a moment, silent in mourning, all the continuing to look down on the village hero’s son, baby Naruto as he continued to stare up at the two old man who has come to his crib.

Hiruzen let out a small sigh.

"Very well, what are you going to do now then? The boy has no other family and you are his godfather Jiraiya."

His student took in a deep breath, held it for a moment and then released it in a large sigh.

"Well, I can't imagine myself taking him in, I'm just not father material honestly, even if it's just as a Godfather", he said, an arm reaching behind him to scratch the nape of his neck. "Honestly, he'd probably have a better childhood here, in the Leaf Village."

He turned his head slightly to looked at Jiraiya, who did not meet his gaze. "You're sure about this then? If he finds this out he may not forgive you."

Jiraiya continued to look down, not even truly looking at Naruto anymore. "Yeah, i-…I'm sure", Jiraiya's voice was quiet and he had to closed his eyes for a moment.

"Very well", Hiruzen said after a moment of silent, opening his eyes to look at Naruto, "He'll be raised through the Leaf's orphanage services then. I'll look after him as best I can Jiraiya, but I am Hokage again, and I am not as young as I once was."

Jiraiya was quick to responded with an "I understand Sarutobi-sensei" as he finished his sentence.

They stood there for a little more time before Jiraiya vanished in a small puff of smoke.

Hiruzen could only sighed, "He could at least leave the building normally", he grumbled, taking one last look at Naruto before walking out of the room, gently closing the door behind him.

_I hope I won’t regret this._

(Zero/Naruto POV)

Zero/Naruto, sensing that the old man, who was called Sarutobi, was gone with his Sense, stopped his small charade and thought about the conversation he had witnessed. 

_So, it would seem my parents,_ _Minato_ _and_ _Kushina_ _, were rather important. One of them was in the position of 'Fourth_ _Hokage_ _', which sound like a leadership type position. And if I have to guess, it was Minato. I know where I am now too, the Leaf Village, quite a strange name._

Zero continued to parse through the conversation. 

_I have one more family member as well, a Godfather,_ _Jiraiya_ _. And he doesn’t seem to think that he would be a good father figure for me._

Zero mouthed the name of his Godfather, the one that had abandoned him, then he try said the name aloud.

It only came out as some kind of babble.

With that name firmly in his mind Zero stood back up and continued his training, a determined expression on his face.

_I don’t need much guidance first time around, so I won’t need it now. But if I see that man again, I’ll have to ask why he think that he shouldn’t be near me._


	6. The decision

(Time Skip)

Zero Omega Wily, or rather Naruto Uzumaki, is now 2 years old.

Last year, he was finally moved out of the nursery and was given his own room to sleep in. It was rather small, more like a closet than anything else, but unlike everyone else in the orphanage he did not have to share the room, giving him the privacy he needed to continue his training.

He also was finally able to go outside as well, to the small playground just outside the orphanage and see just what kind of village he lived in. When Jiraiya had called his new home the Leaf Village, he was expecting some kind of Medieval village like in one of the book he had read in passing.

Instead, he was greeted by a large city, with oddly shaped buildings and various pipes and wires traveling across them. This 'village' was very much not what he had expected and was almost similar to the one he had left behind in his old life, if watered down on the technology bit by a lot.

He also took notice to the large mountain with four large stone faces engraved onto them, overlooking the village. He recognized the current Hokage, Sarutobi from his brief encounter with him, meaning the last face on the right must be the Fourth Hokage, and his father Minato.

_You must be a very important figure to this city, to have something like that dedicated to you, father._

Zero had also made an effort to try and …socialize with the other children. Needless to say, that ended in disaster.

For one thing their vocabulary was extremely limited compared to his own, making conversation utterly meaningless. Their games were far too simple and trivial for him to take part in. Also, he got the feeling that the other children didn't like him very much. He didn't know why though. He made sure to have his best smile on his face as much as he could, sometime.

_X did said that I have a smile that make people think of a shark._

_Maybe I should practice my smile more?_

Oh well, he’ll practice it in his spare time. And it wasn’t like this has bother him very much. He was always more of a loner anyway.

This 'village' was also ruled by those with the title of Hokage. The current Hokage, the Third in fact, who he learned was named Hiruzen Sarutobi, would visit the orphanage every now and then. He would go around and socialize with all the children who had lost their parent, and if Naruto/Zero guess correctly that this was an excuse to scout out potential for his military forces as well as checking up on him.

The first guess was made when each time Sarutobi visit, he would also deliver a ‘sales pitch’ about being a 'ninja', this villages military force, of which the strongest was elected as Hokage. He would further his ‘pitch’ by telling to the Orphanage children that they can go and attend an academy. This is where they would learn how to become the ‘heroes’ that protected their home: Ninja.

The second guess was make when he felt the man eyes would shift to look at him at random moment.

It did not take Zero long to decide that the Ninja Academy would be his first step into his new life. What he would become by the end of this life would be leave for later. With that in mind, he asked the Hokage to sign him up. But there was something else that was bothering him as well. Small things about his new home that had puzzled and slightly worried him, not that he would admitted it to anyone.

There was no mention of the Dr. Wily, Robot Master, Reploid, the Maverick Wars, the Elf Wars, Arcadia, the Resistance,… in any of the reading material he had come across.

He had no way to confirm it but, he didn't think he was in Kansas anymore (or so the expression says). Regardless, Naruto Uzumaki continued his life in the orphanage, a stoic mask on his face and a mind of an evolving unstoppable killing machine operating his body.


	7. Other POV

Saying that Tsuru Kabe was disturb by Naruto Uzumaki would be something of an understatement.

She had work in this orphanage for at least 5 years now and while there was some odd cases there and then, she had told herself no children living in her orphanage would have to be look upon with fear filled eyes.

Naruto Uzumaki make her rethink that statement.

She knew that young Naruto was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, honestly it was really an open secret at this point, but that wasn't why she was apprehensive of him. No, there was something else, something not quite right about the child.

When he had first arrived at the orphanage, she was wary of him, knowing his status as the Fox's container. She did her job, took care of him like he was any other kid, maybe a little bit detached but that was it, end of story.

After a while thought, she began to notice strange things about him. His eyes seemingly holding an awareness that didn't belong in such a young child. Some days, she could have sworn that she had seen the young boy in his crib, practicing to walk a couple months ahead of others his age, but lay right back down as soon as she had walked in.

That wasn't what even the most disturbing things to her though. When he was young, the boy would almost never cry. It was only when he needed to be changed or feed, never anything else. Eventually, even that stopped all together.

When the boy was a little older, even when he fell and scrap his knee, or when the older kids would try to pick on and bully him, never would he cry. No, instead there was just a blank mask of apathy, if you could even call it that. It looked very unnatural, and after seeing that mask everyday for over a year Tsuru was very spooked.

But the most disturbing thing was when she happened to come across the bou as he was looking into a reflective pool in the Orphanage garden, practicing his… facial feature, from smiling to scowling and everything in between.

That was when she had an epiphany.

_There is something very wrong about that boy._

_It’s like he doesn’t know how to, no, he doesn’t know emotion, he doesn’t know how to express anything remotely human._

The other children knew it as well. They would hardly ever interact with him anymore, and when they did it would not go well. That boy would simply look at them, and would either brushed them off; almost ignoring them completely, if they were smaller or equal to his size, or if they were bigger kid, he would look at them with a look as if he was calculating the best possible way to tear them limb from limb.

Sometime, she felt like he would really do it, but then he would just shake his head and back off.

It wasn't just his social skills that were off either. The boy moved with rigid grace; a fluidity and control that should be posses by a well oil machine, not a five years old boy. He walked with confidence wherever he went, with that emotionless face never going away.

He was stronger than others around him as well, she had seen him beat children that were almost twice his age and had training in the ninja academy, though he never instigated the fights. But when he finished one, he would always leaved his opponent with a fractured bone or two.

Yes, Tsuru Kabe truly was apprehensive about Naruto Uzumaki.

_He had also shown an interest in becoming a ninja to boot._

That was a thought that kept her awake at night.

And with that thought in mind, the letter that she had written to the Hokage two years ago, calling for the immediate removal of Naruto Uzumaki from the Orphanage premises, was signed two days after she had a nightmare about a mountain of corpse, with a man with feature similar to Naruto, but with a ponytail that reached his knee she privately noted, sitting on top of it.

Normally, she would feel bad if she had to sent a child out into the world, all alone.

But Naruto Uzumaki is not a child. He may have not been the Kyuubi incarnated, but he is not a child this she was certain of.

(Hiruzen POV)

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not having a good day.

The day was like every other, was filled with monotonous paperwork and political strife that he was well and truly sick of at this point.

He remembered a time when he enjoyed these things, but now he was missing the retirement that Minato was so kind to bring him.

_It almost make me want to reenact those dream about that-maybe past lives of me that I had when I was younger._

When he was younger, he has dream that depicted that he was a monster or a demon of some sort ( _or a slave perhaps to a mysterious Force that prey on and control their kind mind_ ) that would regularly ravage the world with an army of similar minded soldier, with 8 or 9 generals under him ( _that were also perhaps his or the mysterious Force slave_ ), trying to claim the world for his kind and wiping the other dominant race that was controlling the world.

It always end the same thought, with a pacifist warrior in Blue ( _the progenitor of his kind_ ) and a demon warrior in Red ( _the origin of the mysterious Force_ ) stopping him.

When he was a but a Genin, he had sometime entertain the thought of learning all he could on Fuuinjutsu and if he got to be Hokage, make a Seal that could be planted into any Shinobi mind just by showing them the image of it, then the Seal would make those ninja loyal to him and him only and would carry out any order he issues, regardless of the immorality that the order carried, and then he would lead Konoha to conquer the rest of the Elemental Nation.

Those were just idle thought, and after two Shinobi World War, and the nightmare that those dream had become during those two wars, which had always make his soul felt like it was bled dry after he wake up from them, and the time of peace that he got to enjoy with his fellow villagers, make sure that those idle thought were just idle thought.

But sometime, he wonder what it would be like if he follow those though.

_I do got the know how on mind-altering seal, and the Edo Tensei, the endless Chakra feature would be good, it would be easy to tweak and combine those._

He brushed that though away and grabbed the next obstacle in his path of the day.

It was a letter that was addressed to him. He read the letter as he filled his pipe with another round of tobacco, stopped for a moment to put his pipe down just as he was about to light it, re-reading the letter and hoping that he had just misread it.

After he had confirmed that he has not misread the letter, he sighed, and with a firm hands, set the letter down, picked up his pipe, and lighted it up with a small Katon Jutsu.

He just sat there for a few minutes, enjoying the smoke. When his pipe ran dry, he quickly write a reply to the letter, signed it and signaled for one of his ANBU.

"Yes, Hokage-Sama?", a falcon masked ANBU appeared kneeling in front of his desk a split second later.

Hiruzen handed the folded up letter to the agent. "Take this letter to Tsuru Kabe at the Western Orphanage", he ordered, his voice smooth, firm, and calm to hide the frustration and anger he was currently feeling.

Without another word the ANBU agent immediately disappeared with the letter. Hiruzen got up from his chair, stretching to get rid of the sore and numbness his back was feeling from sitting on a chair for the past few hours.

As depressing as this was, Hiruzen had expected this scenario to happen and had already rented an apartment in advance in-case this occurred. He walked out of the room, greeting his secretary as he pass the hallway with a smile like usual.

"I'm going out for the rest of the day. Push any appointments I have to tomorrow". Not even breaking his stride as he hear her stutter response of “Hai Hokage-Sama”, he continued to walk out the tower and made his way to Naruto's soon-to-be former home.

His pace was slow as he take the time to greeted the various villagers around him, a smile on his face, but with a mind filled only with half joy at seeing his villager go about with a smile on their face, the other half was filled with more negative emotion, anger and worry chief among them.

He was not looking forward to this. While he enjoyed visiting and speaking with Naruto, telling him that he was going to be living alone from now on was not something he was eager to do.

His decision to reveal Naruto's status as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was a hard one. There were only two ninja with him that night to watch the sealing as it happen. Who knew what kind of rumors that had already been spread because of that lack of witness?

To mitigate this, he had decided to reveal Naruto's status making it clear that he was just a normal child and that he was a hero.

_That decision clearly went well._ He thought sarcastically.

The villagers were quite wary, scare even, of the young boy. That fear spread to their children as well, ostracizing Naruto and making it very difficult for him to make any friends.

He knew of the villagers fear very well. He was also frankly, a little bit afraid of the boy as well. Something about the child remind him of his dream.

Still, Naruto himself did not seem to be bothered by this. In fact he had once tell Hiruzen that he shouldn’t have to worry for him on stuff like that.

_Even if the boy assured me that he was fine alone, I still wanted him to make some friend._

Speaking of it, _what if Naruto are aware of his statu_ s, which now that he think about it, _undoubtedly the kid had to have known._

Naruto was a smart kid, advancing well beyond his peers in pretty much, well,… everything.

When the two of them would get the rare chance to speak, he didn't feel like he was talking to a child. Honestly, Naruto reminded him of Itachi, with eyes too old for such a young soul, and somehow even more mechanical, machine like than even Itachi.

Like Itachi, Naruto was talented as well. Hiruzen had theorized that the boy was a sensor, due to the fact that he was never surprised when Hiruzen would drop by, and always seem to be aware of Hiruzen gaze on him.

His physical abilities were quite impressive as well if Tsuru's letter is to be believed. Defeating multiple academy students that were almost twice his age with no formal training was quite a feat.

He continued with his steady pace toward the orphanage. No doubt by now Falcon would have delivered the letter and inform Hiruzen charge that he would soon be move to a new place. Naruto wouldn’t need much time to packed, what with the little possession that he had anyways.

It was here that his train of thoughts jump straight to his one still loyal-to-the-village student, Jiraiya.

All those years ago, on the day of their first visit to Naruto at his crib, he was very disappointed in Jiraiya.

_Was that unfair at the time?_

_Perhaps._

He knew that Jiraiya was in a lot of pain after Minato's death.

His student had spent most of life searching for his Child of Prophecy; which Hiruzen had always considered a bit naive, and Jiraiya had thought he had found him in Minato, after the Ame trio death at the hand of Hanzo.

_Minato_ _and_ _Kushina_ _also treated him like he was family, something_ _Jiraiya_ _never had. And in the end, he lost everything in a single night._

Naruto was a reminder of that pain, of everything he lost.

Yet, he couldn't help but see it as an excuse for Jiraiya to run from his responsibilities.

The two still kept in touch via Summon letters, though it only concern official Konoha business. Hiruzen would mention Naruto in his letters, encrypted in his comment on his student latest Icha Icha Novel. He would often mention Naruto hardships and struggles with the villagers around him, hoping to convince his student to change his mind, return and be a proper guardian for the boy.

 _And of course Jiraiya never even bothered to acknowledge them._

Yes, in his eyes, his student was just running from his Godfather responsibilities.

(General POV)

Finally, Hiruzen had reached the orphanage.

As he approached the front gate, he could already hear the sounds of children playing and laughter. He waited for a couple moments until the door finally opened, with Tsuru there to greet him. An average, black-haired and lithe woman. She may have been just an average face in the crowd, but her profile has said that when in the orphanage, she was a mother-hen to all the children. All except one.

This only made him more disappointed in her, an emotion he was beginning to be feeling far to often.

"Ah..h-hello Hokage-Sama", her voice tremble slightly at his sight. There was a small look of shame in her eyes as he look into them. What stood out in contrast the most though, was the was the determination in the rest of her body.

_I don't have to do this_.

As a Hokage, Hiruzen could order her to continue keeping Naruto in her care, but from the way she stand, she was already adamant about getting Naruto out of here. If Naruto were to stay, his life would only continue downhill from here. The caretakers wouldn’t abuse him or anything like that, but they would neglect his well being, only doing the minimum require.

_It’s best to get it over with now._ Hiruzen thought to himself.

"Take me to him", his replied was sharp, possessing an air of authority that demand to be obey. For her credit, Tsuru only nodded, then turned around to guide him to Naruto's room.

The two went through the building, a smile always on Hiruzen face when any child that notice his presence and run to greet him. Soon, they come to Naruto's room, and with out bothering to knock, Tsuru opened the door and walked in.

"Greetings Hokage-Sama,” a young voice immediately rung out as soon as the door has open, very professional, but monotone and emotionless.

Looking inside, Hiruzen spotted young Naruto. He was standing with straight, his hand crossed behind his back and a small backpack down in front of him.

When Hiruzen looked at young Naruto, the first thing that strike his eyes was the boy long blonde hair, which he has tie in a pony-tail, that flown down to the base of his spine. Naruto was currently wearing his stoic face, a blood red jacket over a black T-shirt, with a bright white shorts and black combat boots. He had on a peculiar Happuri that has four horn like appendages extending past his ears and cover his skull partially from both side, exposing only the top and back of his head, keeping his long hair flowing down his back and preventing them form spilling in the front. Naruto had asked for them during last year's Summer Festival that they spent together and had wore them everyday. In fact, Hiruzen couldn't remember seeing him without them on since then.

( _His feature always remind me of that dream_ )

Yes, without a doubt, Naruto had quite the flair for the dramatic. It didn't bother Hiruzen though, he had seen stranger things, and stranger people.

“You are a bit later than normal, Hokage-Sama.”

The sentence, couple with the serious expression on the boy’s face, elicit a smile from Hiruzen. Chuckling a bit out loud, he replied with as much seriousness as he could.

"Well when you get as old as me it takes a bit longer to get around", he said, hoping to get a reaction from the boy.

"Hm, as you say Hokage-Sama,” was Naruto replied, all with the monotone of his voice.

Naruto then grab his backpack up, loop one of the straps around his shoulder in one smooth motion. "Can we go to my new place now, Hokage-Sama?” he ask, already walking past him and Tsuru and toward the front door.

_Hm, someone is a little bit impatient I see_. Hiruzen thought with an indulgent smile on his face, and proceed to followed Naruto to the front door, clearly amused by the boy antics.

"Now now Naruto, shouldn't I be leading the way? Seeing as I’m here to lead you to your new home, I doubt that you'll know where to go after we walk out that door." Said Hiruzen to the boy as they reach the front door.

Naruto, who was already at the front door, opened it and bowed toward him, gesturing for Hiruzen to step out."Hokage-Sama, I was merely opening the door for you. It’s the polite thing to do.” Naruto says, a small smirk now on his face.

With a chuckle, the old and the young walked out of the orphanage. Now they were walking almost side-by-side, with Naruto only a few step behind the Third Hokage, they began their journey to Naruto's new apartment. It situated near the Hokage Mountain, and consequently the Academy as well, which Hiruzen had already signed up for Naruto to begin attending next year.

As they made their way through the village, various villagers would often stop to look at the two, and not in greeting like they did when Hiruzen was alone. They would often move to the other side of the street to avoid being close to them. After a while of this, Hiruzen looked down at Naruto to check his response.

Naruto seemed to be ignoring this, his face impassive like always and his eyes hidden by a tuft of hair that has spill under the Happuri. Hiruzen could only sighed a little as he look at Naruto. The boy had a habit of walking like he was expecting an attack could occurred at anytime from any corner. While anyone else with a passing glance would say that Naruto was relax in his walking, Hiruzen could see that all of his muscle were tense. He didn’t know what could make the boy develop a level of paranoia like that, and the theory he come up along with the theory that the boy was a sensor didn’t paint a nice picture. At all.

They pass by the market and stop by a few stand, getting Naruto food, clothes and various supplies like utensils and soap. The apartment was already fully furnished and Hiruzen would leave further decoration up to Naruto.

As they continue away from the market, Naruto stops and turns, standing still for a moment. "Hokage-Sama, what’s that building for?" The child looked up at Hiruzen and pointed at a building to their left.

Hiruzen looked over at the building Naruto had pointed out. It was a fairly large building, two stories and with a brown-red shingles making up the roof. The gray walls shown subtle signs of wear, from small spider web cracks here and there to occasional mold. This building would be entirely dismiss by ordinary people, but Hiruzen knew this building quite well. After all, it was one of the entrance to an ANBU facility.

Hiruzen looked down at the boy again. Naruto was staring intently towards the building. "That's just some old building from the Founding Day of the village. I was going to give it’s deed to the Akimichi Clan so that they could build a restaurant. Why? Is there something the matter?", the Hokage asked, curious.

The boy stares at the building for a moment longer, eventually looking away and replying. "I thought that I see some of your invisible guard going into that building", then the boy continue on, unaware or indifferent to the fact that Hiruzen and his ANBU guard has stiffen simultaneously after hearing that. When the boy was five steps from his guardian, he turn around, squint at the neutral look on Hiruzen face, flick his eyes toward the building again, then say to the Hoakge, “we should be going right now, Hokage-Sama.”

Hiruzen only nodded, a smile blooming on his face, with a line of thought playing out in his mind.

_Interesting, that theory about you being a high level sensor may not be a theory anymore. Of course you could have exceptionally good eyes, that could also be it._

They continue towards Naruto new home-to-be. Finally they set their foot in front of a light yellow building with maroon colored shingles. Standing at four stories tall it was an average apartment building.

They proceed to climb up the stairs to the top floor. After three flight of stairs, they stop at the third door on their right, room 402.

"This will be where you’ll be staying," opening the door as he talk, he revealed a single, small, plain room with light blue colored walls and a wooden floor. The room contained a bed, a small dresser, an alarm clock, a small desk and chair, and a small radio by the window, "and this will be your new room."

Naruto, after a moment of hesitation, entered his new room and start looking around. After a minute of looking around, they walked through a small door way leading to the kitchen, where a small fridge, stove top and a small table with four chairs served as the boy new dining room. There was another door leading to the bathroom.

Hiruzen, after a minute of letting the boy taking it all in, put the bags of groceries onto the dining table. "So, what do you think of your new place, Naruto?" Hiruzen asked, eager with a dash of nervousness coloring his tone. He want to hear the boys response.

Naruto looked around the apartment for a moment longer, his gaze seemingly stripping everything bare. Then he looked up at his guardian. "It looks… OK. Might be a little,… boring." Naruto said, his tone completely serious.

Not very surprised by the response, the Third Hokage only said. "It’s true", Hiruzen then handed him a spare key and continued, " but I'm afraid you'll have to live with it for now, at least until you become a powerful Shinobi and earn some more money. Speaking of...", the Hokage reached into his robes and pulled out a three small envelop, handing it to Naruto.

"As of now, this will be the stipend you'll be receiving every 30 days from Konoha to help take care of yourself. This is a fixed income so be sure to spend it wisely."

Hiruzen then moved out of the kitchen and into the main room, with young Naruto following his steps.

"Also, you have been enrolled into the Shinobi Academy for next year. As long as you keep attending, your rent and utility fee will be taken care of."

Naruto just nodded to indicate that he had understand, then flung his backpack onto the bed, a look of concentration on his face as he counted the bills that Hiruzen just handed him.

After the last bill, Naruto spoke up again.

"Is there anything you wish for me to know, Hokage-Sama?", Naruto asked the money still in his hands, but his deep blue eyes staring straight into Hiruzen’s own.

Hiruzen was gonna shook his head, but then his eyes widened as if he remembered something. He then reach into his robe again and fished out two book, put them onto the table and replied.

"I actually got you this two books that I think you might be interested in. Other than that there is nothing else you’d need to know. I'll visit in a few days to check up on you, and if you need anything else, or got any question on the subject in the book, I'm usually at the Hokage Tower if you want to ask." Hiruzen opened the door, intending to head home and relax for the rest of the day.

"Good day to you, Hokage-Sama." Naruto waved him off and closed the door behind him.

With that, Hiruzen made his way home, this time via the rooftops.

There were many thoughts on Hiruzen mind about Naruto as he jump toward his home. What Naruto could be thinking and what his future could entail. As much as Hiruzen hated to admit it, there were too many things resting on the boys shoulders. He would do all he could to make sure Naruto went down the right path.

_Hopefully I won't be the only one for much longer_.


End file.
